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Cryptostegia grandiflora
Apocynaceae FAMILY

Cryptostegia grandiflora

Cryptostegia grandiflora

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

The plant contains glucosides that interfere with heart function; ingestion will also provoke stomach and intestinal upset[1]. In Madagascar the plant has reportedly been used for criminal purposes and as a poison for vermin. The powdered leaves, mixed with water, when swallowed can cause persistent vomiting after half an hour; followed by death within 15 hours[2]. Although Cryptostegia grandiflora is highly poisonous, it is extremely unpalatable and thus grazing animals usually avoid it[3].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Climber
Growth—

Cryptostegia grandiflora is a plant of the dry south-west of Madagascar where annual rainfall is less than 600mm and as low as 300 mm, at an elevation below 600 metres. The plant is known to tolerate rainall to 1,800mm in cultivation. The dry season lasts at least 8 months, but droughts of 12 - 18 months are not uncommon[3]. Frosts are unknown. Succeeds in a sunny position in a moist but well drained soil[4]. Cryptostegia grandiflora is a highly invasive weed in semi-arid natural ecosystems, especially dry or monsoonal rainforest. It has the potential to spread much further, especially in Australia where it poses a threat to national parks and has been declared a noxious weed. It is now a common and highly invasive component of dry rain forest and of the fringing riverine vegetation, as well as on flood plains from where it invades grazing land; mainly in the tropical to subtropical 500 - 1,400mm annual rainfall zone. The historical evidence suggests that there is a significant lag period before the plant assumes an invasive status. Thus, those countries where the plant has been cultivated as an ornamental or as a crop, but where it has not yet become invasive, are at future risk of invasion[3]. New shoots can elongate rapidly during favourable conditions, which can result in long, unbranched stems up to 5 metres long being produced[3]. The robust roots can penetrate 12 metres into the soil, producing yellow, fibrous feeding roots[3].

Propagation

Seed - usually germinates well if sown soon after ripening, but can lose viability within the first 12 months if the seed is not stored dry at temperatures of around 5°c[3]. Cuttings Air layering. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Cryptostegia+grandiflora>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
  2. [2]Philippine Medicinal Plants — http://www.stuartxchange.org/CompleteList.html ↩︎A lovely site, giving brief details on the medicinal uses of several hundred (over 400 at the last count) plants in the Philippines, plus a picture of each plant.
  3. [3]Invasive Species Compendium — http://www.cabi.org ↩︎An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc).
  4. [4]Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide — Whistler. W. Arthur. · Timber Press Inc. Oregon. · 2000 · ISBN 0-88192-448-2 ↩︎An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses.
  5. [5]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Medicinal Plants in Nigeria (website) — Professor Tolu Odugbemi · http://www.medicinalplantsinnigeria.com/uploads/1/7/4/8/17482593/plantsdatabase.xls ↩︎An on-line database, downloadable in .xls format, it has basic information on 628 species of plants
  7. [7]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  8. [8]Rubber. Its Sources, Cultivation and Preparation. — Brown H. · John Murray; London. · 1914 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎Written in the days before synthetic rubbers and the loss of interest in finding new rubber sources. A good amount of information on latex-producing plants. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  9. [9]Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 62 — Missouri Botanical Garden · 1975 ↩︎An excellent botanical publication, available for download from the Internet. This volume contains the Asclepiadaceae section of the Flora of Panama.
  10. [10]Useful Fiber Plants of the World — Dodge C.R. · USDA; Washington. · 1897 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A rather dated, but very comprehensive catalogue of fibre plants from around the world. The book can be downloaded from the Internet.